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Video of Match Highlights : RCB vs PBKS

Clout NewsOctober 3, 20210 Comment0814

RCB vs PBKS, 03 October 2021, 3:30 PM IST

Match Result: Royal Challengers Bangalore won by 6 runs

Player of the Match: Glenn Maxwell

Match Report: Punjab had this match in their bag till the 10th over when Rahul and Mayank were going all guns blazing, but Royal Challengers managed to do it again. Mayank should have carried on once Rahul departed, but he couldn’t handle the pressure. It was Chahal who helped the Challengers bounce back in the match and by the end of his spell, RCB were right on top. Shahrukh Khan looked promising, but Harshal Patel played a crucial role in running him out.

Earlier in the day it was the brilliance of Glenn Maxwell that allowed RCB to post a challenging total on a rather tricky Sharjah wicket. There were contributions from Paddikal and AB too, but Maxwell stole the show once again. And with the ball, barring Chahal, Garton bowled quite an impressive spell too. Punjab have hurt their chances to make it through to the playoffs given their poor net run rate. They have only one game to go, whereas, Mumbai, KKR and the Royals have two matches each.

KL Rahul | PBKS captain : “Anyday (when asked if he would have wanted to swap the orange cap for a win) , it’s been on my head for a while in the last couple of years, but I would have enjoyed it a lot more if we had got the points and qualified. Can’t put my finger on it, the score they got was par, maybe 10-15 runs extra, but when Maxwell comes in and bat with freedom, the form he is, you have got to give it to him. Can’t fault the bowlers a lot.

In T20s, the openers get the bulk of the runs, you don’t get middle-order players scoring 500-600 runs in a season. But we do need players to make those 25-30 runs at a quick rate, the power game which Shahrukh has started to do for us, the youngsters have done really well – Bishnoi, Arshdeep and Harpreet have come through in the last 4-5 games and have matured a lot. They have shown a lot of heart which is great to see, hopefully, we can build on it and see how we can score more runs.”

Virat Kohli | RCB captain – “It feels amazing (qualification). I don’t think after 2011, we haven’t done it with games to spare, but it’s a great position to be in. Eight wins out of 12 games is a great campaign for the team. Now we have two more opportunities to finish in the top two and that gives the added motivation to play even more fearlessly. The first huddle for any team is qualification. We still have areas to improve so that we work on those areas and get into the top 2.

You can bowl in any format. Harshal’s inclusion has been outstanding. Yuzi has bowled well and Shahbaz has been great. Garton has come in and made an immediate impact. An IPL campaign is as good as the team plays the way they do. If the players don’t step up, the campaign can move away quickly. This year the guys have taken the ownership and responsibility.”

Glenn Maxwell | Player of the Match – “Not much has been different, came at a nice time out to bat, took a bit of time to assess the conditions, got away with the first couple of risks that I took and then started off. A bit of clarity, I think I have been clear in my mind over the last couple of seasons in the IPL as well as professional cricket. I have found a nice bit of rhythm. Batting at 4, sometimes it’s not the easiest position to bat – but the openers gave us an ideal set-up, took a bit of time to understand the wicket.”